“Hangman” Adam Page defeated Samoa Joe at WrestleDream on Saturday to retain the AEW World Championship.
Page won after hitting Samoa Joe with three Buckshot Lariats.
After the match, Samoa Joe raised Page’s arm in victory as a sign of respect, but it was a ruse. Samoa Joe and The Opps then ferociously attacked Page post-match.
In recent months, Page and Joe had common enemies in Jon Moxley and The Death Riders, which resulted in them lending each other a helping hand and even teaming up on occasion.
One such instance occurred on the Oct. 1 episode of Dynamite when Page, Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs joined forces to beat the Death Riders trio of Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia.
While it was a great victory for the babyface team, Page and Joe ended up having an altercation after Joe seemingly felt Hangman wasn’t being respectful.
Security had to separate Page and Joe, and with emotions still running high, Hangman called out Joe and challenged him to a match during a backstage interview.
Page said he took issue with Joe telling him that he had never beaten the Samoan Submission Machine before during their argument, although what Joe said wasn’t incorrect.
Joe, Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage beat Page, Hook and Rob Van Dam in a six-man tag team match in early 2024, and Joe later went on to win a three-way match against Page and Strickland at Revolution in March 2024.
In the latter victory, Joe retained the AEW World Championship by making Page tap out to the Coquina Clutch.
That perhaps gave Joe the mental edge entering WrestleDream, although it marked the first-ever meeting between him and Page in a one-on-one match.
Page conquered his demons on Saturday, getting past one of his biggest threats yet in Joe to continue his reign as AEW world champ.
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